“Perfection is the enemy of progress.” – Winston Churchill
“Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.” – Confucius
Toward the end/beginning of each release year, various publications and writers release their “Worst” lists, proclaiming which films they believe make up the bottom rung of cinematic entertainment. During the 2023/2024 cycle, someone commented (sarcastically? jokingly?) on Twitter (currently known as X) that people who make up these lists didn’t watch Mystery Science Theater 3000. For those not in the know, the series, also known as MST3K, was created by Joel Hodgson, first premiered in 1988 and has the premise of a human with robot companions spends their days watching films and riffing over them with various quips and jokes. None of the films featured were made to be a joke, but they fit in well within the loose narrative format of the program. Now, this may seem like a long-winded setup to knock on the latest Shudder Original, director Josh Forbes’s (Contracted: Phase II) Destroy All Neighbors, but it’s not. Rather, the idea comes to mind for two reasons: lead actor Jonah Ray Rodrigues played human Jonah Heston in the latest MST3K revival and everything within Destroy feels lovingly crafted in its precision to convey the thematic message that sometimes it’s more important to get the job done and have a good time doing it than wasting time making it perfect. It’s our imperfections which make us unique and give us our own specific perspective — those who get it, will get it.
L-R: Thomas Lennon as Scott, Ryan Kattner as Caleb Bang Jansen, and Jonah Ray Rodrigues as William Brown in Josh Forbes’ DESTROY ALL NEIGHBORS. Courtesy of Shudder. A Shudder Release.
When not working as a vastly underappreciated music engineer at recording studio Industrial Sound & Magic, William Brown (Rodrigues) works to craft his own record of prog-rock, inspired by his love of the music of mostly-forgotten rock band Dream Dimension. Even with the support and encouragement from his girlfriend Emily (Kiran Deol), he just can’t seem to finish the album, citing disturbances from neighbors, interruptions from building manager Eleanor (Randee Heller), and various other inconveniences. But when a new neighbor, Vlad (Alex Winter), moves in on the opposite wall and blares music day and night, William decides to confront him, leading to a most violent and heinous result. But will it be the thing that finally pushes William to finish the album or will it be another road block on the way to prog-rock stardom?
Alex Winter as Vlad in Josh Forbes’ DESTROY ALL NEIGHBORS. Courtesy of Shudder. A Shudder Release.
The script by Charles Pieper (Last Remnants) and Jared Logan, based on a story from Pieper and Benner, is pretty straight-forward and obvious in laying out its themes throughout the film: William’s pursuit of success is hampered by his unwillingness to ignore distractions, leading to a life in which he allows himself to be trod upon by those who would abuse him, blaming all others for his own lack of confidence. Therefore, the bulk of Destroy plays out like a violent coming-of-age story where each instance of mayhem is more about how it serves to push William out of his self-imposed stasis and into some form of action. When it comes to horror comedies, there’s nothing like a good blood-letting to get someone out of their comfort zone, whether truly an accident or not.
One of the better aspects of the script is how it clues the audience into the cerebral nature of the story from the jump as the opening credits occur within a long swirling tunnel in which the sides turn from organic to mechanical materials to psychedelics to a vent leading into William and Emily’s apartment. This not only establishes the weird and wild nature of Destroy, but hints that some elements may just be for William and William alone. This makes everything that follows from that moment either us witnessing the magic of something akin to House II: The Second Story (1987) or a total mental break. Either one is fine within this particular genre, but it’s a lovely touch nonetheless. Helping it along is the way that Forbes blocks his scenes from a performance, editing, and camera perspective. Is the unhouse person, Auggie (Christian Calloway), merely spouting nonsense at William in their second scene together or is he a harbinger? Are Eleanor’s comments about having something to help William record genuine or just another ploy to get him to stick around to fix something for her? **Minor spoiler incoming unless you’ve seen the trailer** Is Vlad really a reanimated corpse pushing William toward greatness or is this an Overlook Hotel-type situation? **End of minor spoiler** There’s one scene in the film that implies a thinness between the veil of the supernatural and reality, but yet another two wherein Vlad may well be something only William and the audience (by nature of the opening tunnel creating our bridged connection) can perceive. When it comes to the enjoyment of the film, that part doesn’t matter in the slightest, but it’s a fun thing to examine and explore.
Going back to one of the core concepts explored in the film, re: perfection, let’s talk about the puppetry created and executed by Gabe Bartalos. Look, there is very little that appears realistic in Destroy and this, dear reader, is no bug. At least, that’s how I see it. With the exception of a dismemberment sequence played for laughs involving close-ups both repetitive and gross, there’s an absolute charm to the applications and gags utilized throughout the film. It’s so absolutely obvious the work-arounds used in order to make Vlad’s head appear animated, but rather than appear cheap, it’s hilarious and cool, bringing about a feeling of watching something an audience member of my age might find cruising USA on a Saturday night (how we doing, Up All Night fans?!). The intestinal tendril that slithers out of a dismembered corpse to turn up a stereo isn’t goopy or grotesque, but very clearly a puppet *and yet* not a moment of the magic is broken. Is it group think? Shared psychosis? Or do we merely acknowledge that Destroy doesn’t have to be perfect, doesn’t have to make each aspect as realistic as possible, in order to be a damn good time?
Jonah Ray Rodrigues as William Brown in Josh Forbes’ DESTROY ALL NEIGHBORS. Courtesy of Shudder. A Shudder Release.
Before wrapping, a little praise for the cast, all of whom understand the assignment as far as the film is concerned. Doesn’t matter if they are the central players (Rodrigues (Suitable Flesh) and Winters (Bill & Ted series; Freaked) make each other far greater in their scenes, the actors meeting the others level of mania so that there’s equal energy to any given circumstance) or supporting players (Deol (Seven Psychopaths), Calloway (The People’s Joker), Heller (The Karate Kid), or Thomas Lennon (Reno 911!)), everyone gets the level of what Forbes is going for: heightened realism with a phantasmagorical bend. Is this real? Is it fantasy? Who gives a shit, really? Because everyone is having a ball. Rodrigues grants William a certain gravitas that prevents him from being a sniveling knob of a human who doesn’t entirely look outside himself (or in the right places within himself), making the torment that William goes through a devilish kind of coming-of-age journey. Similarly, Winters doesn’t just chew the scenery as Vlad, he devours it, creating a presence that demands attention whether as a fully-formed being or just a limb.
Kiran Deol as Emily in Josh Forbes’ DESTROY ALL NEIGHBORS. Courtesy of Shudder. A Shudder Release.
If you’re looking to add a little mayhem to your new year, Destroy All Neighbors delivers on all it promises, utilizing a game group of comics and comically-inclined cast members to entertain you as we observe William’s enlightenment occur through bloodletting. This film does embrace pure insanity, added by the fact that the film never truly addresses whose perception of things is true. Personally, it’s more fun to think that what we share with William is the truth, if only because every first great tale deserves its own Electric Boogaloo.
Available on Shudder January 12th, 2024.
For more information, head to the official Shudder new/original release webpage.
Final Score: 3.5 out of 5.
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